It is well known that many deep-sea fish use bioluminescence to attract prey. Human anglers have recognized that under low light or poor visibility conditions, fish and other aquatic life forms are attracted to phosphorescent lures. While scientific basis for the attraction is as yet not completely understood, the stimulation and continued emission from a phosphorescent lure are important concerns under certain fishing conditions. Phosphorescent lures are more effective than non-emissive lures under most, if not all, fishing conditions; yet, phosphorescent lures remain a small part of the total lure market. Phosphorescent lures manufactured to date have not necessarily been of the highest quality nor included desirable features such as reticulations or integral hooks.
While a phosphorescent lure is readily charged by ambient light at midday, fishing often occurs under low light conditions, under darkness, or under cloud cover. As a result, phosphorescent lures are charged by exposing the lure to visible light emissions from a flashlight or strobe light. While a flashlight is compact, it suffers from low intensity illumination leading to rapid dissipation of lure phosphorescence. Conversely, a strobe light affords high photon flux density yet is cumbersome to operate under fishing conditions.
For reasons that remain poorly understood, fish are not merely attracted by light emission, but instead are predisposed to strike a lure emitting a particular color. The color a fish finds attractive is not constant. As a result, fishermen regularly use lures of varying color until a color attractive to fish is identified, then lures of that color are used in predominance.
Prior art lighted lures have suffered from limited duration phosphorescence associated with the use of an external phosphor charging jig. Chemiluminescent prior art lures have also met with limited acceptance owing to the inability to recharge the lumiphor. Still another class of prior art lighted lures include those containing an electrically powered light source where the light source has included an incandescent bulb and more recently a light emitting diode. Owing to the emission wavelengths from internally lighted lures, the charging of a phosphor in or on the lure has been impractical. Other prior art devices have been developed where the emission wavelength changes between two colors in response to an action. U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,721 is representative thereof. Additionally, lures have been developed that include flashing emissions. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,330,282 and 5,392,555 are representative thereof. In spite of the prior art efforts, the problem persists as to how to present an illuminated lure that is emitting a color attractive to a fish.